Reverend Horton Heat burns it up
Roots rockers lead a 'Revival'
By Todd Leopold
CNN
(CNN) -- Jim Heath, aka "the Reverend Horton Heat," has nothing against making records in the studio. But the stage is where he likes to be.
"The way it is, is that the studio is such a sterile environment," Heath says from a tour stop in Bloomington, Indiana. "When you play live, you can blow it out more than you can in the studio. It's just the energy of the audience. You get caught up."
So when Reverend Horton Heat, the band -- guitarist Heath, bassist Jimbo Wallace and drummer Scott Churilla -- went to make its latest recording, "Revival" (Yep Roc), the trio wanted the album to sound as close as possible to their blazing concert performances.
"Revival" was largely recorded live in a Dallas, Texas, studio a block from where the band played its first gig, "as quickly and cheaply as possible," says Heath.
Recapturing a live sound is only fitting for a band that's been called "the most electrifying live act in America," and fits in with Heath's philosophy.
"Being a musician is one of the more valid art forms," Heath says. "Being a recording artist, to me, is not a valid art form. ...
"The truth is that some of the brightest and best musicians are guys who are playing at a Ramada Inn on Friday and Saturday nights," he continues. "And recording artists are people who barely know what makes up a D chord."
A working band
"Revival," which was co-produced by the band's longtime live sound man, Dave Allen, and mixed by legendary rock producer Ed Stasium (the Smithereens' "11" and Living Colour's "Vivid" and also a past Horton Heat producer), continues the band's tradition of frenzied rockabilly with songs such as "Party Mad" and the title track.
This time, however, the energy is tempered by the bittersweet emotion of tracks such as "Someone in Heaven" (about the death of Heath's mother) and the fiery "Indigo Friends" (about heroin addiction).
The band's been at its trade for 20 years, getting its start in Dallas' Deep Ellum neighborhood, and still puts on 150 shows a year. It's the very definition of a working band.
"We tour or play irrespective of any release," Heath says. "We do a lot of a month on, a month off."
After coming home for Christmas, Reverend Horton Heat was scheduled to take to the road starting New Year's Eve for what Heath calls a "ski bunny trip" -- ski resorts and Western climes.
"Those are super fun," he says, adding that while tourists are welcome, "we play for the locals."
The band has maintained a following over the years, whether with longtime fans who now have families or twentysomething newcomers.
And though the venues may change -- the band may go from a small club to a 1,000-seat theater, deliberately staggering the type of location to stay fresh -- the musicians are hoping for one thing, Heath says.
"We'd rather have a good, full crowd," he says.
'I'm more like Dean Martin'
Heath may have the reputation of a wild man onstage, but he says he's calmed down a lot since Reverend Horton Heat's early days.
"I'm more like Dean Martin," he says, showing a rowdy face in performance but a sober one in private. "One thing that's helped our longevity was that we hit a point and made a decision [to give up a hard-living lifestyle]."
He's also been listening to a broad range of music lately, such as movie and TV themes -- the Rev has taken a shine to Henry Mancini -- and Hammond B3 organ-based music. Indeed, Heath has a side group in which a friend plays a Hammond B3 organ, and he says he enjoys staying in the background.
Not that Heath is becoming the shy and retiring sort. "Revival" features a distinctive lick he calls "the hurricane," in which he plays lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously, and he's still hard on his instrument.
"I've had amps blow up, one of my Silver Face Super Reverbs [a classic Fender]. It's one of the most expensive in the world," he says. "It's been rewired three or four times, and I've had to replace the tubes so many times it's practically new."
